InternViews: Emma Gleason

InternViews is a series where we ask Grady College students to describe their internship experience.

Emma Gleason is a fourth-year advertising major from Atlanta, Georgia. This year, she’s spending her summer as a brand strategist intern at Ogilvy, an advertising, marketing and public relations agency in New York City. Read more about her internship experience below.

Provide a brief overview of your role and its associated responsibilities.

This summer, I am a Brand Strategist Intern at Ogilvy in New York City! At the agency, I am assigned to two clients, Audi and Premier Protein, and I am assisting with all parts of the strategy process for both accounts. My day-to-day responsibilities include developing a competitive audit, researching current events and industry trends relevant to our clients and contributing to brainstorms. I also support my manager with audience research, social listening and sitting in on creative reviews to better understand how strategy fits into the overall campaign process. Later this summer, I will collaborate with my fellow interns on a campaign for our summer intern project, which is based on a real client problem. At an agency like Ogilvy, there is so much room to get involved in projects beyond my assigned accounts, and I can’t wait to keep learning and growing throughout the rest of the summer!

What opportunities have you had during your internship?

During my internship, I have had the opportunity to work on both the Audi and Premier Protein
accounts, gaining exposure to two very different brand voices and strategic challenges. In my
role, I attend internal and client calls, assist with developing insights for creative briefs and
conduct audience research to inform strategic recommendations. As the summer progresses, one
of my biggest projects is creating a competitive audit and a mock brief that I hope to present to
the Audi team. This internship has been such a great opportunity to have a hand in every step of
the strategy process, from research to ideation to execution, and to own my own deliverables for
our clients. Additionally, I have had many opportunities to connect with other strategists and
even outside of my department.

What is one piece of work you are proud of creating in this role?

I am very proud of my work on the Audi account so far. I helped develop a May newsletter that
was sent to the client, and I will now be producing this newsletter independently for the
remainder of my internship. However, my current priority is the competitive audit I am
conducting for Audi. I’m especially proud of this project because it has given me the chance to
dive into Ogilvy’s tools, research methods and strategic frameworks to uncover white space
within the automotive industry. I have a great deal of freedom to take this project in any direction
I see fit, which has allowed me to start discovering my own strategic style and point of view.

How has the Grady curriculum prepared you for this internship?

My time at Grady has strengthened my research and brand positioning skills, both of which have
been invaluable during my internship. My experience in Talking Dog Agency gave me hands-on
practice with client communication, agency structure and writing creative briefs, all of which
allowed me to pick up tasks quickly and confidently in a professional agency environment.
Grady has also given me countless opportunities to network with and learn from incredible
alumni across the advertising industry, many of whom have offered guidance and encouragement
that helped prepare me to take on this role.

How has this internship influenced your future career?

I hope to pursue strategy after graduation, and being on the strategy team at an agency like
Ogilvy this summer has been a dream come true. My experience on the Cannes Lions Study
Abroad and as a brand strategist with Talking Dog introduced me to the world of strategy, and
this internship has only reaffirmed my passion for it. Seeing how strategists translate research
and cultural insight into compelling brand narratives has shown me exactly the kind of impact I
want to make in my career. My time at Ogilvy has also shown me the type of agency culture I
want to be a part of in the future.

Did you receive any mentorship or guidance? How did it impact your experience?

Ogilvy paired me with a mentor and a manager, and both have been incredibly helpful
throughout my internship! They were also Ogilvy interns and are now Senior Strategists, so their
guidance has been especially valuable because they understand exactly what it’s like to be in my
position. I have also found mentorship from a few UGA graduates working in New York, who
have been so welcoming and supportive. Additionally, the internship program includes regular
learning workshops designed to support our professional development as interns, covering
everything from presentation skills to account management to design. Outside of my internship, I
am also an IRTS Fellow, which has also provided me with a mentor and networking
opportunities that are super helpful for me developing as a young professional.

Editor: Sarah Kate Maher, skm01341@uga.edu